From the Mouths of Babes
by kabashley19
Summary: Sarah and Jareth meet once more, but their lives have changed since the last time they've seen each other.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **Just something I had stuck in my head for awhile. If you like it, let me know and I'll see what I can do with it.

**DISCLAIMER: **the Labyrinth and all it's characters belong to Jim Henson and Co. (_rats!_)

* * *

><p>"I wish the Goblin King would come here right now."<p>

Jareth's ears perked up at the sound of a wisher's voice and he conjured a crystal with a sigh. This job was getting more and more tedious with every passing millennia and he was, in all honesty, thinking very seriously about hanging up the crown. Nothing since _that day_ 25 mortal years before had made him think his duty as King of the goblins was of any actual use. All it really gave him was heartache and pain, something he was sure he would never get over no matter how hard he tried to move past it.

"Tulk," he called, and a short goblin with a runny nose appeared in front of him.

"Majesty called Tulk?"

"Yes. Send for Taran and tell him to come here immediately or there will be hell to pay." The goblin disappeared and Jareth was left alone again. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed again. He was getting too old for this.

"You asked to see me?" A young fae stood in front on Jareth, his arms crossing his chest in annoyance.

"Yes. You are coming with me to the Aboveground, to learn how to do things properly."

"I hate the Aboveground! All those mortals running about, their disbelief in our world dying slowly with each of their generations…and they're so arrogant! They think that they are all knowing beings, when there is so much they are ignorant of," the young fae said heatedly.

"I know all too well what you mean, but our world and theirs are bound nevertheless. Be ready when I call you," Jareth said, disappearing in a puff of glitter and leaving a very frustrated Taran behind.

When Jareth arrived in the Aboveground, he saw two women arguing with each other, yelling at the top of their lungs and they both failed to notice he was there. A young woman stood on one side of the living room. Her long dark hair framed her face, her cheeks turning pink with frustration. Her hazel-green eyes burned with annoyance at the older woman across the room. Her hair just as dark as the other woman's, but it was pulled back into a messy bun and her pure green eyes were widened as if in shock. Jareth stared at her face, knowing immediately who it was. Sarah.

"See? I said it. Nothing happened," the young woman said.

"Faye, listen to me. You have no idea what kind of power you can wield with the right words."

"Oh my god, there you go again! You constantly tell Michael about this underground kingdom and a labyrinth and stuff. When are you going to realize that you can stop with it? You're not fooling anyone!"

"Your brother believes me, and when you were a little girl you believed everything too," Sarah said sadly.

"Yeah mom, the key words are 'little girl'. I'm 20 years old now, and you can cut out the fairytale crap."

"It's not fairytale crap! And don't you dare talk to me like that!" Sarah ordered.

"Or what? You'll wish me away to the goblins?" Faye said sarcastically. Sarah stiffened and replied in a soft voice.

"I would never do that to you. I learned that lesson the hard way long ago."

"Mom! I don't want to hear that bullshit story about how you wished away Uncle Toby when he was a baby!"

"I was never lying about that, Faye! I _did_ wish him away, but I won him back from the Goblin King!"

"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A GOBLIN KING!"

"Oh, I beg to differ my dear," a velvet voice said from the shadows from behind the young woman. She turned to see where the voice was coming from, and saw a man towering over her, completely dressed in black. He was…terrifying.

"W-who are you?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"I am the Goblin King," he said, with his hands on his hips. Faye seemed to relax quickly and exhaled loudly.

"Oh, okay. Good one. Are you one of my mom's friends from the theatre school? Nice costume by the way."

"I am not wearing a costume, nor am I from your mother's theatre school. But I do know her from long ago. Isn't that right, _Sarah_?" He moved to circle around the older woman who had turned very still. He admired the way she had changed physically in her 40 years. She was slightly taller, her figure filled out nicely and she had some fine lines in her face. Her eyes remained the same, their intense green gaze piercing through him. To the Goblin King's mind, she still looked exactly like the beautiful 15 year old brat who defeated him.

"Jareth," Sarah said in disbelief. She looked at his face, and saw the same mismatched eyes that had tormented her dreams since her run in the Labyrinth. He was just as tall as she remembered, and just as deathly handsome. He looked every inch same, villainous fae that took Toby all those years ago. But why did she suddenly feel a stirring within her body when he said, no, _caressed_, her name?

"Ah, so you haven't forgotten me?"

"No."

"I see." Jareth raised an eyebrow as he moved to circle Faye in the same way he circled Sarah, as if he was sizing her up. She was the same height as Sarah and she had the same dark hair. Her eyes were a light hazel colour, but Jareth could see the same green in them that she inherited from her mother. Her face was rounder than Sarah's, something she must have inherited from her father, Jareth noted with an inward shudder. She looked at him in wonder and with a hint of defiance. He could tell she was stubborn like her mother too.

"This has got to be a dream or something. There's no way in hell you can be real," Faye said as he stopped in front of her. She lifted a hand and poked him in the chest to see if he was invisible. He snarled at her, thinking that she had insulted him, but Sarah was quick to jump in between them before anything drastic happened.

"What are you doing here Jareth? No one was wished away, and there's no way you can claim Toby. He's a grown man now."

"I am not here for Toby, precious. I came simply because I was called," he looked at Faye again. "Are you satisfied, my dear?" Faye ignored the fae King for a moment to turn to her mother.

"Mom? You really _did_ wish Uncle Toby away?"

"Yes. But I won him back in ten hours, albeit with a little help," Sarah said triumphantly. A muscle in Jareth's cheek twitched at her statement. Suddenly, there was another puff of glitter and a young fae appeared in the room.

"What's taking so long? Usually you're there and back when someone makes a wish!" Taran said, annoyed. Both Faye and Sarah looked at the new figure. He looked almost exactly like Jareth, except younger and more handsome (if such a thing was possible). He had the same wild hair that frayed about, nearly glowing in the dimly lit room. The only differences between the two was that this new fae was slightly taller and while Jareth's eyes were a mismatched blue, Taran's eyes were a mismatched amethyst, the right one looking nearly violet in colour. Also, he was dressed in various grays in an outfit that very nearly matched Jareth's.

"I told you to wait. I don't recollect calling for you!" Jareth snapped.

"You were taking a long time. I wanted to see-" Taran stopped and looked at the two women standing in front of him. He looked at Jareth with a questioning look, but didn't even ask before Jareth answered him.

"This is Sarah...Holden now, isn't it?" Jareth said, cocking his upswept eyebrow with a smirk. "Formerly known as Sarah Williams."

"As in, 'Champion of the Labyrinth'?" Taran asked, his eyes wide.

"The same, unfortunately," Jareth said, crossing his arms. He was shocked as watched Taran kneel in front of Sarah and take her hand, and nearly pulled the boy back up to his feet. How dare he show respect to the woman that nearly destroyed him?

"An honour, Lady Sarah," Taran said, placing the back of Sarah's hand to his forehead.

"S-sure," Sarah said, a light blush overcoming her. They were disrupted by Faye's voice.

"Hold up. Why is another one of these magical people in our house? How many more of you are coming?" Taran got up slowly and stood in front of Faye, his purple eyes scanning her face. Slowly, a smile took over his mouth and he reached for Faye's hand and brought it to his lips. Faye stood unimpressed.

"Did anyone ever tell you that chivalry is dead?" she informed him, immune to his otherworldly charm that her mother seemed to be falling for. She didn't trust either of the two strangers.

"Not where I'm from," he smirked at Faye and looked to Jareth. "I've changed my mind, father. I don't hate the Aboveground. I've found something I like."

"'Father'?" Sarah echoed, turning towards Jareth. He grinned at her, revelling in the expression on her face; confusion, hurt and a twinge of jealousy. The very same emotions _he_ had felt when he knew she had moved on.

"Oh come, come Sarah mine," he said to her. "You didn't honestly think I would mope about and wait around forever for you, did you?" Sarah remained quiet as the blush on her cheeks went from pink to beet-red. Taran stood beside Jareth, his eyes never leaving Faye's as he swept into a deep bow and Jareth cleared his throat. "I would like to formally introduce to you Taran, Prince of the Labyrinth, my son and heir to the Goblin Kingdom."


	2. Chapter 2

"It's a pleasure to meet the both of you," Taran said, still not breaking eye-contact with Faye. She felt uneasy under his gaze and shifted her eyes away.

"Okay, you've proved you're real, now get out of here. Go back to...wherever it is you're from," Faye said, waving her arm as if to shoo them away. Sarah shot her daughter a 'look' and turned to face their guests.

"Please stay. I'll make some coffee...or tea? Lemonade? Sorry, I don't know what the preferred drink of goblin royalty is."

"Tea would be fine, Sarah," Jareth said, easing his way onto the couch. Faye didn't like the fact that he seemed way too comfortable sitting in her living room, and ran to get her coat.

"Where are you going, Faye?" Sarah said, emerging from the kitchen with a tray of pastries.

"I'm going to go for a walk. No offense Goblin King, but I this is just too weird for me. I need to clear my head." Faye pulled her boots on and headed outside, the door slamming. Sarah watched her go and sat down with a sigh.

"Feisty thing, isn't she?" Jareth remarked with a smirk.

"Yes. That's the one thing I wish she didn't inherit so much from me."

"I beg to differ, precious. It's one of your finest qualities." Sarah looked up at Jareth and blushed, pushing her hair out of her eyes. They heard someone clearing their throat and turned to look at Taran who quickly stood up and excused himself.

"Where are you going?" Jareth asked him.

"Not to worry, I'll be back soon." Taran winked discreetly at Jareth and disappeared in a puff of glitter. Sarah sighed again, noticing the mess that the two Fae men had made on her living room floor.

"It looks like I held a disco party in here," she said.

"It will disappear in a matter of minutes," Jareth said, waving his hand. Silence consumed the room, until Sarah decided to speak again.

"So, how old is Taran?"

"In Fae years, he is still quite young. He's stopped the physical aging and will look the way he does for the next ten thousand years or so. In mortal years, he's about 25 years old."

"He looks just like you."

"Yes, but he has his mother's eyes, I'm sure you've noticed."

"Who..." Sarah tugged on a piece of her hair that had come loose. "Who was his mother?"

Jareth smiled at Sarah's attempt to remain aloof despite the slight jealousy he heard in her voice. "She was a Fae noblewoman; she died while giving birth to him."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Sarah said earnestly. "I know all too well what you must have felt when she died."

"Oh, do you?"

"Yes. David, my husband, passed away four years ago. It's been hard without him, but it was much harder on Faye than anyone else," Sarah said, remembering how Faye had stayed up in her room for days on end and refused to eat anything. "They were extremely close."

"Do _you_ miss him?"

"Of course I miss him," Sarah snapped slightly. "We shared children together, a life together. He was my rock." Jareth's muscle in his cheek twitched again as Sarah spoke of her husband. So much passion and love was in her voice.

"I didn't mean to offend." She nodded her head, reassuring him that she understood.

"How about your wife? Do you miss her?"

"Speaking truthfully, not as much as you would think. It was terrible that she died, yes, but our marriage was based on politics; we each had our duties to fulfill. She was a good companion but there was no real love between us" He paused, looking down at his boots. "May I see a picture of your husband?"

"Of course," Sarah said as she jumped up. She was a little surprised that Jareth was so interested in her life. She returned with a photo album in her hand, and sat down next to him on the couch. "This is us on our wedding day," she said as she flipped the pages for him. "And this was us on the day that Faye was born. And this is the four of us when Michael was born. He's ten now."

"I would very much like to meet him."

"Well, he's at school now. He won't be home for another couple of hours."

"Well then, I'll have to wait for another day precious," Jareth said with a promising smile, and Sarah's heart did a little flutter.

* * *

><p>Faye huffed as she walked in the park that was three blocks away from her house. Who did those magical freaks think they are? Swooping in (actually, poofing in) unannounced and...Well, okay she <em>did<em> call on him. _But I didn't think that he would actually show up! And then his son decided to tag along too?_ She remembered the say he looked at her, how his amethyst eyes pierced through her body as if he was stripping off each layer of clothing that she was wearing with his mind. She shivered and hugged her coat closer to her. _What a creep_.

She walked through the park enjoying the light winter breeze that floated around her, and after a while she began to relax. That is, until she felt someone watching her. She looked over her shoulder cautiously but didn't see anyone. She was alone, just as she had been when she arrived at the park. She shook her head and kept walking until she felt like she was being followed. She turned around bravely to catch whoever it was off-guard, but she still didn't see anyone. Suddenly, she heard a loud screech and a large red-tailed hawk appeared from out of nowhere. She shrieked and ducked as it swooped down at her, landing on a low branch of a nearby tree. She straightened herself as she watched it, mentally chastising herself for not taking her camera with her so she could take a picture. It was the most beautiful bird she had ever seen, its great chest thrust forward proudly. She started to smile to herself as she admired the red-brown feathers on its lean body, her gaze coming up to its large, acute eyes and its strong beak and..._Wait a minute,_ she thought, _did that thing just smile at me?_ Thinking she was losing her mind, she turned to go but heard the bird screech again. When she turned to look back at it, she saw its yellow eyes suddenly turn purple, and hawk's body morphed into a human body. But not just any body...

"Taran?" Faye asked, her eyes wide.

"We meet again, Faye. And so soon after our previous rendezvous," he said as he floated down to her and took her hand in his again and brought it to his lips. She ripped her hand from his and wiped it on her coat.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Changing from a bird and back to your human form in the middle of the day! Are you crazy?"

"It would have been very hard to talk to you if I didn't change," he said to her, his eyes mocking. She rolled her eyes and scoffed at him.

"That's not what I meant and you know it. There are people here and they could have seen you!"

"I just wished to speak with you without our parents hovering over us like children."

"Really? Well I don't really feel like talking to you. You almost knocked me over when you flew towards me."

"Please Faye," he said, gently grabbing her arm as she began to walk away from him. She looked into his eyes that had suddenly turned gentle, and it surprised her. Sensing that she would give in soon, he spoke again. "I would like to get to know you." Faye rolled her eyes in frustration, more at herself than at Taran.

"Okay, fine." She looked down at his clothes and noticed he was still wearing his menacing grey outfit from before. "But I'm not gonna walk around the park with you dressed like that." He smirked at her and waved his hand over himself and was immediately transformed. His hair had become shorter but still held the unruly mess that he had from before. His eyebrows were no longer swept upwards, but curved in a way that suited his face. His clothes had changed as well; he was now clad in dark blue jeans, a black shirt and a black coat with a grey scarf around his neck. His ears were rounded (she guessed that they must have been pointed because he was a Fae) and she didn't notice before that there was a silver loop through both of them. His feet were clad in black sneakers and he still had his black gloves on; all in all, he looked like your typical modern-day youth. He smiled at her as she examined him.

"Do I meet your approval?"

"Yeah you do. More than I thought, actually," she caught her words as she said them and blushed a deep pink when he grinned at her. "I didn't mean it _that_ way. I just meant that I didn't think you could pull it off."

"Just because I live Underground doesn't mean that I don't know what's going on Above. I know a thing or two about your world. Now," he said as he straightened out his coat at the shoulders. "It's colder than I thought it was. Shall we continue on your walk then, my lady?" He took her hand once more and threaded it through his arm feeling the warmth of her small palm even through the thickness of his woollen sleeve. Faye smiled despite herself as she looked at his face from under her lashes. Jareth was very handsome, but Taran's face held youth within it, making him appear to be much better looking than his father was, even now in his mortal guise. _Okay, he's not good-looking. He's gorgeous._ Faye admitted. But she would never say it out loud.

"Something on your mind, Faye?" he asked her, his sharp English accent slightly startling her.

"Why do you ask?" she replied, shaking her head slightly to get her thoughts in order.

"You've been staring at me for the past ten minutes, love," he grinned. Faye wished she could slap that smug look off of his face.

"I was just wondering...I called for the Goblin King, not the Goblin Prince. Why did you show up?"

"Father insisted I come along to show me how things are done. I still have plenty to learn before I become king, but lately he's been more aggressive with his training. I suspect he's thinking very seriously about abdicating."

"Why would he want to do that? He's not old or anything."

"He's far older than you can imagine, but still relatively young in Fae years, whereas I am still looked upon as an infant by the Fae court. I have yet to experience half of what he's known in his lifetime. As for the abdicating, I'm still not quite sure why." They continued walking until Faye realized they had reached the heart of the small town. People were stopping to look at the handsome stranger, and Faye felt somewhat proud that she was hanging on to his arm. Just as she began to smile, she heard a voice come from behind her that made her cringe inwardly.

"Oh my god, Faye." Taran saw Faye wince and looked at her curiously.

"Oh no, not her," Faye said.

"What's the matter?" Taran asked, his eyebrows raised.

"I know her from high school. She's one of those girls who acts nice but she's really insulting you, and for some reason she loves doing it to me." Faye plastered a fake smile on her face and turned around to face the girl who was walking up behind them.

"Faye! How nice to see you!" Marcia Addison said, striding toward them. "Still haven't gotten out of this town, huh? Well that's okay; you were never really the type to stray away from a small town life. And who is this?" she added, noticing Taran.

"Marcia, this is Taran. Taran is...he, uh-"

"My father is an old friend of her mother," Taran interrupted, holding out his hand for Marcia to take. Marcia flirtatiously flipped her light brown hair off of her shoulder and smiled at him while extending her own hand.

"Well, it's no wonder Faye's been hiding you from everyone. You're not from here are you, judging by that accent."

"No, I'm not as a matter of fact."

"Well, I'd be more than happy to show you the town. Not that there's really anything to see, but we can always find some of our own fun, right? " Marcia said, winking at him. "You could come along Faye, but you probably have some books to read or something, don't you? Taran looks like he wants to have fun, not be put to sleep. Why don't you go on ahead and I'll bring him back around your house later. Don't worry. I'll take good care of him." Marcia said, reaching for Taran's hand. Faye rolled her eyes at the obvious innuendo, but inside she was burning. She looked Marcia over, clad in her knee-high boots, a sandy coloured trench coat and a matching beret, her hair in perfect curls and her makeup flawlessly done; she looked like she stepped right out of a fashion catalogue. Faye, on the other hand, had just thrown on what she could grab at that moment; black boots scuffed with mud, torn jeans, a navy blue coat and white mittens with a matching scarf. With the two supermodels standing next to her, she felt like a complete slob.

_Why is this bothering me so much?_ She thought.

She felt Taran tugging on her arm as he pulled her closer to his body, his arm coming around her waist. She looked up at him, ready to tell him to keep his Faerie hands to himself, but was taken aback when she noticed he was smiling down at her warmly.

"Thanks for the invite Marcia, but Faye and I already have plans. Don't we, babe?" _Babe?_ Faye thought. What kind of act was he trying to pull? "Faye doesn't talk about me much, does she? We've been going strong for...how long has it been now, love?" Taran said, still smiling. Faye was staring at him, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Uh, a year?" she murmured, still dazed. She looked out of the corner of her eye and saw Marcia looking at them in disbelief. Faye caught the glimmer of mischief in Taran's eye and smiled when she realized what he was up to. She was more than willing to play along with him. "But we've known each other for longer."

"You two are together?" Marcia asked, her eyebrow raised in questioning. "I never would have guessed that this was your type, Faye. I mean, he's absolutely dazzling and you're so-"

"Amazing?" Taran cut her off. "Beautiful? Wonderful? She sure is."

"Cut it out, you big goof," Faye said in a fit of giggles. She's watched enough television to know how stupid girls act when they're in a lovey-dovey relationship. Taran smiled at her, amused.

"Hmm. I'm not sure I'm convinced," Marcia said. _Is this girl serious? What the hell is it going to take to get her to go away?_ Faye thought as she looked up and noticed something hanging from the doorway that they stood under. A wild idea popped into her head at that moment, and she willed all of her nerves to disappear.

"Oh, look Taran! Mistletoe!" She grabbed him by the collar of his coat and pulled him down to her lips, where they pressed firmly. She felt him inhale sharply in surprise, but then his mouth seemed to curve into a small smile against her lips and he placed his arms around her waist. She couldn't believe she was doing this. _I also can't believe how soft his lips are_, she thought. He mouth opened slightly and she felt his tongue run across her lower lip. She shuddered as a bolt of electricity shot through her.

The kiss lasted for a few seconds, but to Faye it seemed to go on for hours. When they finally pulled apart, his eyes were clouded with lust and had deepened to a royal purple, so dark that they nearly looked black. But just as soon as she saw it, it disappeared and they turned lilac, a triumphant light shining within them. _Oh, we are gonna have a talk about that._

It took her a few more seconds to remember that Marcia was still watching them, stunned, and she turned to her with a smile to match Taran's eyes.

"Well, Faye, I think it's time for that hot chocolate you promised me. Nice meeting you Marcia," Taran said while holding Faye's hand and beginning to walk away from the two women. Faye smiled over her shoulder as she ran to keep up with Taran. He swung his arm over her shoulders and she placed her arm around his waist until they turned the corner and Faye burst into a loud guffaw.

"Oh my god, that was _priceless_! Did you see the look on her face?" She wiped tears away from her eyes and noticed Taran was watching her with an amused look.

"Is she always that awful?"

"You should've been around in high school. If you were around to help me out like you did today she would've been put in her place a long time ago." Faye straightened and looked at the ground, her cheeks more pink from embarrassment than the cold. "Sorry about catching you off guard like that."

"Not to worry. I was pleasantly surprised." Faye flushed a deeper pink as she rolled her eyes and Taran smiled at her as she began fidgeting with her gloves.

"And I don't recall ever promising to buy you a hot chocolate!"

"Well, I think you owe me one _now_." Faye rolled her eyes again as he led them to a small coffee house, the bell ringing above the door as she opened it.

"Do you want whipped cream on yours too?"


End file.
